Cindy Farrell's volleyball career at Seymour High School came about in a rather serendipitous fashion.

Head coach Cathy Federowicz, who certainly knows a great athlete when she sees one, asked Farrell to come out for the team as a freshman. But Farrell, now a senior, declined, saying she wanted to focus on academics and basketball.

Somewhat puzzled by the response, Federowicz saw Farrell at the matches, obviously interested in the proceedings.

"About a month into the season, one of our six freshmen got hurt," said the head coach of the reigning Naugatuck Valley League champs. "The other freshmen were afraid we wouldn't be able to have freshmen scrimmages without six girls, so they asked Cindy if she would want to play. Cindy sat down with me and explained she did not want to take someone else's spot but would fill in so that the other girls would still have a team. She has been with us ever since."

It was a win-win. Farrell, who went on to also fashion a standout basketball career at Seymour, has been a vital part of the Wildcats' success during the last four seasons, two of which resulted in NVL titles.

Seymour also reached the CIAC state volleyball tournament semifinals twice and the quarterfinals once over the last three seasons, and this year is seeded seventh in Class S.

Farrell, an outside hitter who was All-NVL last season, was named this year's NVL Tournament Most Valuable Player. She had 25 kills and 15 digs in the championship match against Holy Cross, and had 12 kills and 10 digs in the semis against Woodland.

"I feel honored to be surrounded by such amazing coaches and teammates," Farrell said. "I've said it a hundred times, but I wouldn't want to share this experience with anyone else, especially my other four seniors. My coaches have so much experience and without them I wouldn't have gotten to where I am today."

She added, "As for my teammates, we work hard and push each other every single day, but we also laugh all the time and have a lot of fun on the court. The five seniors, have been together for six years (including middle school) and the chemistry shows on the court. I am very lucky, and proud of the teammates and coaches I have."

The other four seniors are Carissa Wasikowski, Elli Emmanouil, Angela Tacinelli and Grace Nisbet.

Farrell, who has been playing basketball "for as long as I can remember" began playing volleyball in seventh grade.

"I thought that it would be a change to hit the ball rather then dribble or pass it like I did in basketball. I also liked that it was not a contact sport, while basketball was all about physical contact. I thought and still think volleyball is unique and that's why I decided to try it out in seventh grade."

Farrell is pleased with how things worked out once she made the commitment to the high school volleyball team that fateful day three-plus years ago.

"I've accomplished many great things. I was able to be a part of two NVL titles. I am very happy with how far I have come since my freshman year, mostly with my hitting. I was barely getting the ball in play my freshman year, and over the years I really improved from when I first started."

Says Federowicz, "Cindy is a rather reserved kid on the court. She doesn't show a lot of emotion. However, she is a true competitor. She knows she is capable of making the big play and that confidence has allowed us to survive some tough matches."

Farrell believes that her strengths as a volleyball player are her work ethic and desire.

"I've put in so much work throughout my career and I had to work hard to achieve all that I have. I am dedicated to the program and my team, my desire to win can't be put into words. This desire is what got me to where I am today."

As for what he needs to work on she explains, "If there was something I could improve on it would be finding spots on the floor more often when I hit and finding spots when I serve."

She hasn't decided where she will attend college but her top schools are UConn, Eastern Connecticut, Quinnipiac, and Fairfield. She would like to take her game to the next level but there's some work to be done yet in high school.

"I hope that we can make it far in states. We'll take it game by game, leaving everything out on the court, and hopefully that's enough to get us to the finals."

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